Tag Archives: thailand

The popular notion of Thailand, even among most transgender persons, is that it’s a country where transgender persons enjoy significant freedom and acceptance. The reality is that the transgender persons of Thailand have existed for a long time under a “benevolent enforcement” government attitude. Meaning that even though transgender persons do not have explicit protections in Thailand, they have been given some measure of protection via tradition. However, from the article:

For worse, the kathoey identity is widely stigmatized. There’s a reason so many “ladyboys” do sex work—they are often excluded from ‘upper class’ professions, rejected by their families, and marginalized. Many Thai believe that being a kathoey is karmic retribution for bad deeds in a past life. Western discourses of medicalization have contributed to third-gender people being seen as sick or disordered. More broadly, Wong of the APTN told The Daily Beast, “transgender people still face daily challenges (use of public facilities, employment, school) largely due to not having legislation on gender recognition of transgender people.”

But relying upon the good will of the smiling policeman on the corner is rarely a secure human rights strategy. Therefore, it’s quite important to take note that Thailand is proposing explicit protections for gender identity and gender expression in its new constitution. What’s more, third-gender persons would be protected as well.

In short, it’s another major advance for our people in a country where such an advance is sorely needed.

There is a gallery of 10 photos from the contest at the link below. But one story which may be both bigger and also more nebulous to report on is that just in the few years I’ve been tracking transgender news, I’ve seen a gradual but persistent improvement in the way in which transgender persons are reported on in Chinese media. Sure, civil rights are still a serious problem in China, especially for transgender persons, but the change sometimes starts with the media and how it treats a marginalized group.

A sensitive essay by a cisgender man who came to the realization that he loved a woman not in spite of her being transgender, but almost because of her being transgender.

This quotation from the end of the article sums up much of the message:

I’ve had enough of this shaming. It’s created a disgusting culture of trans-attracted men using trans women for sex but never forming a committed relationship with them. Most trans-attracted men are only trans-attracted at night. Then, during the day, they run back to their heteronormative relationships with cis-women of whom they are not ashamed. Even men who are in committed relationships with trans women will often tell those women that they could never introduce them to their friends or family.

Imagine a woman who has been to hell and back trying to transition into who she really is only to be told by her lover that he is ashamed to be with her. The hardship that trans-attracted men go through (and believe me, it is hard) does not even come close to what trans women have to go through in their day-to-day lives.

That is why it’s so important for trans-attracted men to start coming out of the closet. Personally, I am proud to be attracted to women who are so strong.

This page contains a 3:43 video feed (meaning no narration) of transgender ladies from Tiffany’s Show competing in elephant polo. Most of the coverage starts at 1:00 in, but it’s a fun watch throughout.

I was asked why I had not been updating Transas City with some of the recent murders of transsexuals, and the reason was, well, they depressed me so much I wanted to avoid focusing on them. But that’s really self-defeating, and the word needs to get out.

July was a harsh month for transgender persons, especially transgender women. Below are reports of 6 transgender women who were murdered or brutally assaulted in just 3 weeks in July.

On July 21 or 22, Dwayne Jones, a 16 year-old crossdresser or transgender woman in Jamaica was murdered after they attended a party dressed in women’s clothing. When someone at the party outed them as male, a gang of happy partygoers armed with knives and hatchets chased her into the night. Police found her body on the road, with multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound. http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/08/02/group-jamaica-must-probe-transgender-teen-slaying/